On June 15, 2025, the Golden Goblet Main Competition Unit of the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival welcomed its first domestic film - "For example, Father and Son" directed by Qiu Sheng and starring Song Yang, Sun Ning, Sun Anke, Tong Chenjie and others. It completed its world premiere and held a media meeting.
Poster of "Like Father and Son"
"For example, Father and Son" tells the story of Zou Qiao, who grew up with his father and practiced boxing with his father. When he was young, his father passed away, leaving him with great pain. After he became an adult, Zou Qiao created a VR boxer based on his father's characteristics, hoping to meet his father again in the virtual world.
In this "life-stream sci-fi film", a screen experiment on technological ethics and emotional redemption unfolds in three time and space. It is not only a cultural collision between Eastern emotional philosophy and Western technological ethics, but also a breakthrough in the typology of "Chinese family narrative" by the new generation of directors. Qiu Sheng's original intention of creating the film came from his memory of his deceased father. The premiere date coincided with Father's Day. The subtle resonance between the theme of the film and reality, about "loss and reunion", triggered more thinking and discussion among the audience.
Using "light science fiction" to fight the weight of my father's death
For director Qiu Sheng, this conversation between father and son across time and space, on and off the screen, is a reflection of his deep memories and emotional confrontation with his father's passing.
Qiu Sheng admitted at the meeting that his father's sudden death was an "unbearable burden" in his life: "My father's death was a very heavy thing for me, and my instinct was to use fiction and fantasy to fight it. In science fiction films, everything is flying, including spaceships and people. I wanted to use the centrifugal force of science fiction to fight this particularly heavy thing."
Director Qiu Sheng
Unlike traditional science fiction films that rely on visual effects and the "heavy industry" of movies, the science fiction of "For example, Father and Son" is much lighter. A pair of "AI glasses" carries science fiction imagination, which seems simple and reasonable. Director Qiu Sheng, who graduated from the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Tsinghua University, used piano music to connect genetic codes in "Song of Life". In response to the host's question about the "Chinese science fiction map", he frankly admitted that he prefers to interpret the core of science fiction with images close to life. Qiu Sheng believes that "science fiction does not have to be a grand narrative, it can be an imaginative incision in daily life."
This "light science fiction" creative concept is reflected in the film's structure as a clever weaving of three-part time and space. Director of photography Zhang Jiahao revealed that the team used red and blue as the visual motif: "Red symbolizes the father, and blue represents the son. The two colors constantly collide and merge in the dream time and space of the young Zou Qiao, the real time and space before his father's death, and the virtual time and space of the adult Zou Qiao, just like the evolution of the father-son relationship." In the section of the young Zou Qiao, the flowing long lens and the misty water vapor create a dreamlike illusion; the time and space of the father Zou Jiantang are shot in a documentary style with a coarse grain texture, and the details of the home appliances pile up the sense of crampedness of the family in the 1990s; and the virtual space that the adult Zou Qiao enters with glasses shows an extremely clean cold color tone, and the use of a telephoto lens keeps the characters and the environment alienated.
Using AI to explore ethics and reality
Under the sci-fi shell, "For example, father and son" always sticks to the realistic theme of "Chinese father-son relationship". The film dissects this and shows the complex texture in the actors' interpretation.
Song Yang, who plays the father Zou Jiantang, defines the character as a "silent mountain". "He is shy to express his emotions and wraps his love in strict discipline." Song Yang talked about his understanding of the character's inner thoughts: "Why did the father at that time use violence to cover up his vulnerability? Perhaps it was because he had no way to release the pressure of life, or perhaps it was because traditional concepts restricted the expression of men's emotions."
In order to portray the image of this father who was crushed by the times, he not only practiced boxing for more than a month, but also dug deeper into the logic of the character's behavior. "Zou Jiantang's situation is very extreme. He is facing desperate situations in all aspects of his life and family. He is very helpless, so he puts his hope in this sport. But he always loses in boxing, and he takes too many medicines until he becomes sick, but he still has to continue to struggle like this."
Actors Sun Ning and Song Yang
Sun Ning, who plays the son Zou Qiao, got into the role through immersive experience of regional culture. Before filming, he deliberately went to Hangzhou to live and learn the local dialect. "The change of language is like a key that turns on the emotional switch of the character."
The meeting held on Father's Day inadvertently became a tribute ceremony for the creators to their real fathers. Song Yang said with emotion: "The process of playing Zou Jiantang is like reconciling with my own father. Those harshness that were once misunderstood have now turned into sighs of understanding." Sun Ning extended the role to the observation of contemporary families: "Our generation is trying to break the emotional barriers between traditional fathers and sons, but some things are still deeply rooted. Perhaps as shown in the film, true reconciliation does not lie in form, but in whether you are willing to face your true feelings."
Stills from "For example, father and son"
When writing this script, Qiu Sheng noticed several news reports, such as the musician Bao Xiaobai using AI technology to "resurrect" his deceased daughter, and a Korean mother reunited with her AI daughter in a virtual garden. In Qiu Sheng's observation, "East Asia is a society full of ghosts. We worship our ancestors. After our relatives pass away, they always hover over us as a collective 'ghost', so East Asians first thought of using AI to resurrect their relatives." As for the ethical thinking involved, Qiu Sheng believes that "it is very tempting and may be able to alleviate some of our sadness."
In the movie, as the conversation deepens, the audience will eventually find that this kind of "resurrection" is just a mirror. "You have been talking to the mirror and projecting yourself. Whether you continue to do this, you will eventually just walk into an abyss. I think this is worth discussing."
At the end of the film, Zou Qiao bid farewell to his father with a "light" gesture. This metaphorical design has sparked widespread discussion. Qiu Sheng refused to give a clear interpretation: "One side of the action is life, and the other side is death. It is left to the audience to figure out for themselves." Technology may provide an outlet for emotional catharsis, but the real farewell always happens deep in the heart.
